Rail-splitting shears.



G. E. MA'GBETH &-P. G. ,STIENING.

' RAIL SPLITTING SHEARS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8, 1909.

-Witnesses: Inventors Attcrney Patented Sept. 7, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

CHARLES E. MACBETH AND FREDRICK C. STIENING, OF HAMILTON, OHIO,ASSIGNORS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TO THE LONG & ALLSTATTER COMPANY, OF HAlVIILTON, OHIO.

RAIL-SPLITTING SHEARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 7, 1909.

;; railway rails it often becomes necessary to slice off the side of arail on a taper, the slicing including the head, the foot and part ofthe web. The work is usually done by planing or analogous operation, andthe purpose of our present machine is to facilitate the shearing away ofportions of the foot of the rail as a preliminary to further operationsby planing See.

Our invention will be readily understood from the following descriptiontaken in con nection with the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 isa perspective view of a machine exemplifying our invention: Fig. 2 aside elevation of a portion of the shearing machine with the workcarrying table appearing in vertical transverse section: Fig. 3 a planof the table with a rail secured to it: Fig. 4 a plan of one of the railclamps: and Fig. 5 a vertical section of one of the rail clamps in aplane at right angles to the length of the table. The drawings are ondiverse scales.

In the drawings :-1, indicates a shearing machine of usual gate type: 2,its upper shear blade: 3, its lower shear blade, the

upper shear blade having a rake both ways from its center of length,that is to say, the center of the blade is the lowest, whereby the workmay be fed to the blades either from the right or from the left: 4:, along guideway disposed in front of the shearing machine and parallelwith the blades: 5, a

work-carrying table adapted for longitudinal movement along theguideway: 6, typical mechanism for moving the table along the guideway:7, a rearwardly facing guide secured to the frame of the shearingmachine parallel with the blades and with guideway 4: 8, jaws secured tothe table and having forwardly projecting faces adapted to engage theguiding face of fixed guide 7:

9, a longitudinal series of clamp-blocks secured to the table and havingupper faces declining forwardly from the shearing: 10, a

upper surfaces of the clamp-blocks.

pivot-block secured to the inclined upper surface of each clamp-blockand adjustable to and from the shearing machine: 10 links having theirrear ends pivoted to thepivotblocks: 11, lower clamp jaws pivoted to theforward ends of the links, the pivots being parallel with theshear-blades: 12, upper clamp jaws also pivoted to the forward ends ofthe links, the jaws presenting themselves toward the shear-blades: 13,-atail projecting outwardly from each lower jaw: 1 1, a lever cam pivotedin the rear portion of each upper clamp-jaw and adapted to engagedownwardly on the tail portion of the lower clamp jaw whereby the jawsmay be forcibly closed: 15, adjustable surfaces carried by the tails ofthe lower jaws to be engaged by the cams: 16, a spring acting upwardlyon the tail portion of each lower jaw: 17 a piece of rail clamped in thejaws in such position as to bring a portion of its footbetween theshear-blades: 18, in Fig. 3, a dotted line indicating the line of theshearing to be effected on the foot of the rail held by the jaws: and19, fingers carried adjustably by the clamp-blocks near the clampingjaws and adapted to present themselves over the outer foot flange of therail.

The transverse angle of the tops of the clamp-blocks 9 is such that therail held by the jaws will be presented to the shear-blades at suchangle that the side of the rail-head will clear the face of the uppershear-blade when the foot of the rail is being sheared close to the webof the rail, in other words, the angle presentation. of the rail is suchthat the shearing line may extend back in under the side of therail-head.

The clamp-blocks may be adjusted along the table, being bolted inteeslots therein so as to suit the piece of rail being operated upon. Apiece of rail being clamped in the jaws, more or less tightly, it may beadjusted oblique to the shear-blades by properly adjusting thepivot-blocks 10 on the inclined \Vhen this has been done the rail may betightly clamped in such relationship to the shearblades that the line ofshearing will be at 'the proper longitudinal angle to the aXis of theraiL- The rail rests upon the lower shear-blade, and the mounting of thejaws at the inner ends of the links 10 permits the rail to rest with afair bearing on the lower shear-blade,

and at the same time the pivoting of both 7 jaws of a clamp to theforward ends of their links permits the foot of the rail to adjustitself to a fair transverse bearing on the angular top of the lowershear-blade. When the jaws are opened, by the actuation of the levercams 14, the upper jaw rises free of the foot of the rail, and the lowerjaw, by the action of spring 16, is caused todescend a trifle so as torelieve the rall entirely from left. As the upper shear-blade descends,in

doing the shearing, there will naturally be more tendency for the top ofthe rail to tip inwardly. The flexible character of the jawknottingwould not resist this tendency, but

" the rigid fingers 19 will furnish the necessary resistance.

The guideway 4 on which the table travels may of course be sosubstantial and have the table so snugly fitted as to insure the propermaintenance of the line of shearing, but in the exemplifying machinespecial provision is made for securing accuracy of guiding independentof the tightness of fitting of the table upon its guideway. Therearwardly facing guide 7 is made a rigid part of the shearing machineand is arranged accurately parallel with the shearblades, and it islocated as close to the shear-blades as conveniently practicable, bothvertically and horizontally. The jaws 8, which engage behind guides T,are secured to the top of the table and can be adjusted along the tableand there are to be a suflicient number of them to have at least one ofthem at all times in engagement with guide 7, the preference being thata pair of them, straddling one of the clampblocks should be at all timesengaging guide 7. It is to be understood that guide 7 is substantiallythe same length of the shearblades and consequently short when comparedwith the length of the table.

By this general construction it is possible to quickly adjust and clampa piece of rail and then guide it accurately past the shearblades toproduce the desired longitudinal angle of cutting.

It is to be understood that the particular device illustrated representsmerely one exemplificat-ion of our invention, the best mode in which weat present contemplate embodying the principle of our invention.

We claim 1. A rail-splitting shear comprising, a shearing machine havinga lower shear-blade and an upper shear-blade, a guideway disesaose posedparallel with the shear-blades, a table adapted for longitudinalmovementons'aic guideway, mechanism for moving the table along theguideway, clamp-blocks carried by the table, a series of clamping jawscarried by said clamp-blocks and presenting themselves toward theshear-blades, and mechanism for forcibly closing the jaws, combinedsubstantially as set forth.

2. A rail-splitting shear comprising, a shearing machine having a lowershear-blade and an upper shear-blade, a guideway disposed parallel withthe shear-blades, a table adapted for longitudinal movement on saidguideway, mechanism for moving the table along the guideway,clamp-blocks carried by the table, a series of clamping jaws carried bysaid clamp-blocks and presenting themselves toward the shear-blades insuch posi tion that a rail held thereby will have the foot of the railpresented to the shear-blades at such transverse angle that shearing maytake place below the side of the rail-head, and mechanism for forciblyclosing the jaws, combined substantially as set forth.

A rail-splitting shear comprising, a shearing machine having a lowershear-blade and an upper shear-blade, a guideway disposed parallel withthe shear-blades, a table adapted for longitudinal movement on saidguideway, mechanism for moving the table along the guideway,clamp-blocks carried by the table and having upper surfaces incliningtoward the shear-blades, a series of clamping aws carried by saidclamp-blocks and presenting themselves toward the shearblades andadjustable on the inclined sur faces of the clamp-blocks, and mechanismfor forcibly closing the aws, combined sub stantially as set forth.

4. A rail-splitting shear comprising, a shearing machine having a lowershear-blade and an upper shear-blade, a guideway disposed parallel withthe shear-blades, a table adapted for longitudinal movement on saidguideway, mechanism for moving the table along the guideway,clamp-blocks carried by the table, a series of clamping jaws carried bysaid clamp-blocks and presenting themselves toward the shear-blades,said jaws be ing pivotally connected with the clampblocks by pivotswhose axes are parallel with the shear-blades, and mechanism forforcibly closing the jaws, combined substantially as set forth.

5. A rail-splitting shear comprising, a shearing machine having a lowershearblade and an upper shear-blade, a guideway disposed parallel withthe shear-blades,

a table adapted for longitudinal movement on said guideway, mechanismfor moving the table along the guideway, clamp-blocks carried by thetable, links pivoted to the clamp-blocks and extending toward the.sl1ear-blades, clamping jaws pivoted to the forward ends of said linksand presenting themselves toward the shear-blades, and mechanism forforcibly closing the jaws, combined substantially as set forth.

6. A rail-splitting shear comprising, a shearing machine having a lower"shearblade and an upper shear-blade, a guide way disposed parallel "withthe shear-blades, a table adapted for longitudinal movement on saidguideway, mechanism for moving the table along the guideway,clamp-blocks carried by the table, a series of clampingjaws pivotallycarried by said clampingblocks and presenting themselves toward theshear-blades, fingers carried by the clampblocks and projecting towardthe shearblades and adapted to project over the foot of a rail held bythe jaws, and mechanism for forcibly closing the aws, combinedsubstantially as set forth.

7. A rail-splitting shear comprising, a shearing machine having a lowershearblade and an upper shear-blade, a guideway disposed parallel withthe shear-blades, a table adapted for longitudinal movement on saidguideway, mechanism for moving the table along the guideway,clamp-blocks carried by the table, a series of clamping jaws carried bysaid clamp-blocks and presenting themselves toward the shearblades,mechanism for forcibly closing the jaws, a guide rigidly supported bythe shearing ma chine near and parallel with the shear-blades, and aseries of jaws adjustably secured to the table and adapted tosuccessively engage said guide, combined substantially as set forth. 1

8. A rail-splitting shear comprising, a shearing machine having a lowershear-blade and an upper shear-blade, a guideway disposed parallel withthe shear-blades, a table adapted for longitudinal movement on saidguideway, mechanism for moving the table along the guideway,clamp-blocks carried by the table, a series of clamping jaws pivotallycarried by said clamp-blocks and pre senting themselves toward theshear-blades, springs tending to depress the lower clamping jaws, andmechanism for forcibly closing the jaws, combined substantially as setforth.

CHARLES E. MACBETH. FREDRICK C. STIENING. Witnesses:

E IJMER R. SHIILEY, M. S. BELDEN.

